Though we should all be looking forward to Christmas as an opportunity to get together with friends and family and share the love and warmth of this wonderful holiday season many of us are overwhelmed with grief.

Myrna Fearer/Wicked Local Danvers

Though we should all be looking forward to Christmas as an opportunity to get together with friends and family and share the love and warmth of this wonderful holiday season many of us are overwhelmed with grief. Our joy has been marred by the tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 14 at the Sandy Hook elementary school.

***

I don’t believe any of us will walk away from this weekend unchanged. The massacre of 26 innocent people, 20 of them little children, will stay with us for a long time. We’ve lived it with the parents, the families of the victims and the Newtown community; we could be the mothers, the fathers, the grandparents, the siblings. All of us share a bond with those people whose lives have been so shattered. We hurt; we care.

***

For many of us in Danvers, the reality of Sandy Hook touched us even more when we discovered that beautiful six-year old Catherine Violet Hubbard has roots here. Her great-grandmother Geraldine Holden and her grandparents, Susan and Leo Sullivan, used to live on Lindall Hill as did her mom, Jennifer (Sullivan) Hubbard. Her great-uncle Bud Holden still lives here.

***

Attorney Dick Gilmore, a Kiwanian and longtime friend of Bud Holden, who was also a Danvers Kiwanian for about 10 years, is Bud’s close friend and plans to be at the funeral. Bud called Dick Friday when he learned about the shootings. Bud immediately went to Newtown to be with his family. Dick also noted that the family not only lived in Danvers, they were also members of the Maple Street Church. And now little red-haired 6-year old, Catherine Violet Hubbard, is forever a part of our Danvers community.

***

I admit, I’m really down in the dumps, overwhelmed by all this sadness, which includes the deaths of local friends. Just a week ago, we said goodbye to some very nice people. Now this town has lost another longtime resident, Marie Murphy, wife of the late Jim Murphy, former owner of Danvers Fruit Mart. Both Jim and Marie were well-known in town. They ran a wonderful business and raised five special children: Diane Brinkley, Cheryl Tremblay, Susan Dembowski, Brian Murphy and Janis Conway.

***

Whether they were selling fresh fruit and vegetables or making their famous fruit baskets, the Murphys ran a very popular market. It was a fun place to go. You could get a dose of Jim Murphy’s humor and wisdom along with your carrots, celery and cantaloupe. Marie Murphy was the bookkeeper and you would often see her accompanied by her little toy poodle. We all missed the store when it closed; we all missed Jim when he died and now Marie is joining him after a long wait. Her funeral is taking place today (Thursday) at St. Mary’s Church at 11 a.m.

***

Enough sadness, however, Christmas is almost here and it’s important for all of us to bring some happiness into our lives and the lives of our friends and family. That’s what 28 Danvers Kiwanians and their spouses and significant others tried to do Sunday when we boarded the Salem Trolley to take us to several places in town where our Christmas caroling is appreciated or at least we think it is.

***

We all met at C.R. Lyons’ house where the trolley waited to drive us around in style. And it was quite a style, especially after sipping a Styrofoam cup of Peter Hjorth’s Glogg. After a several year hiatus, Peter and Mikki Hjorth joined us for caroling. Peter, who is a past president of Kiwanis, is Swedish and likes to incorporate his Swedish traditions in with Mikki’s American ones especially at Christmas. That’s when Peter makes his classic Glogg.

***

You may not know what Glogg is but once you’ve tasted it, you will never forget it — or how fast it can affect you. Trust me, it’s very effective. For those who want to know, Glogg is “a classic Scandinavian hot spiced wine punch served with raisins and almonds.” Now I know how those hardy Scandinavians get through those long cold winters.

***

Christmas caroling can be very rewarding, especially when your destinations are as special as ours. We first went to Twin Oaks nursing and rehab and serenaded the patients in three different areas of the building. It was wonderful to see them smile and we loved it when many of them joined in.

***

Our next stop was Kaplan Family Hospice House. I recall the first time we went there, we didn’t quite know how we would be received. However, we even get requests from some of the patients and their families and that makes it special and rewarding. This year was somewhat painful for us. Diane Brinkley, a past president of Kiwanis, and her sister Janis Conway were with their mom, Marie Murphy. A bright part of our visit was when Diane’s grandchildren, Ella and Grace Brinkley, showed up with their mom, Amanda (Lyons) Brinkley. Children and Christmas go together and we even had the girls sing a song with us while standing next to their Uncle C.R. Lyons. It was a poignant moment.

***

Our last stop, as usual, was the Carmelite Convent. We look forward to going there because no matter how badly we sing, the gracious Sisters act like we are an angelic choir. Traditionally, we always include their request, “The Dreidel Song.” This year, though the last candle was lit Saturday evening, the eight days of Hanukkah technically ended at sundown Sunday, so we really did just make the holiday when we sang the song. C.R. decided he had to go out in a blaze of glory. So thanks to a Jewish friend, C.R. donned a Hanukkah menorah hat, which in some respects kind of made him look like an Indian chief. However, he did brighten up the song when he traded his elf hat for the menorah headgear.

***

By that time, we were thinking we were getting pretty good, but I have to admit it didn’t compare to the Danvers High School Chamber Singers who entertained the Danvers and Beverly Kiwanians and their guests at the Christmas lunch at the Danversport Yacht Club Tuesday. Their director, Alex Grover did a terrific job although I must say it was the first time I’ve ever seen a director using an iPhone instead of a pitch pipe. Ah, technology!

***

We know that there will always be great singers at the high school thanks to lots of little kids at the middle and elementary school level. More than 100 seniors showed up for Christmas dinner at the Danvers Senior Center last Friday. The Highlands School chorus, directed by Griff Gall (who led the Back Bay Ringers at the St. Richard’s concert a week ago), entertained them with a Christmas concert. The children were adorable and talented and the ladies and gentlemen loved them. I do think, however, all of us just wanted to hug those youngsters tight and protect them after we had learned about the Newtown tragedy that morning.

***

By the way, kudos to Pam Parkinson, Cathy Andre and Paula Corcoran and the rest of the staff that did all the cooking. What a feast: appetizers, salad, roast beef, turkey, butternut squash ravioli, penne pasta and all kinds of cookies and pastry. Someone asked if Henry’s had catered it, which made Pam proud. Henry’s, however, will be catering the next event, the Senior Center’s pre-New Year’s party Dec. 27. Should be fun; those seniors know how to party.

***

I forgot to thank all the people who volunteered, serving, clearing and doing all sorts of things. I unexpectedly was a volunteer. I forgot how tired you can get. I went home and collapsed on the couch afterward.

***

Many of you remember Pam Irwin, who used to wear many DPW hats. Pam was the person who brought recycling to Danvers and she worked very hard at that, at water conservation and also cutting down on electricity consumption. Pam ran a lot of events that included educating the kids in town and I for one miss her. So I was delighted to bump into Pam and her fiancé Tony food shopping. Yes, I did say fiancé. Tony seems terrific; he has a great sense of humor. They appeared so happy. The wedding will be at St. Mary of the Annunciation Church in March.

***

You may remember I told you about Lorraine McGuinness and her big photo shoot at the Peabody Essex Museum. We were thrilled to see a two-page spread on Lorraine and her hats in PEM’s January-February edition of “Connections,” the museum’s spectacular publication. After visiting the incredible “HATS” exhibit at the PEM, Lorraine was so inspired by the Stephen Jones hats, she went home and created 12 of her own. The magazine said 11, which was the number she had made at the time but then she decided to make a hat for breast cancer. Lorraine, a survivor, modeled in the Illusions breast-cancer fundraising fashion show hosted by Jeanne Hennessey and Lorraine Roy at Bella Sera.

***

Before I close this column, I have a question to ask. Does anyone know what happens to all those Chia pets that are sold at Christmas? We never hear anything about them afterward. Is there a shelter that takes in stray Chia pets? Do they get discarded once they grow their hair, coats or whatever? Do people collect them? I’m just curious but not curious enough to ever want one. I’ll stick with Misty, even though she’s high maintenance.